Evolution
by RueBerry
Summary: Harlow has just moved to Forks with her best friend, Veronica. She meets the Cullens, and a devastating secret is revealed. It makes everything in her life change. She gains, she loses, and some questions are answered... even about her missing father.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Harlow**

Veronica and I slipped on our yellow high-tops and stepped outside. The air was heavy with the scent of rain and fresh flowers.

Portland, Oregon; our only home since we were born. Veronica and I: best friends from the womb. No, we weren't twins. Our mothers were friends, and so we were friends. Since my dad left after I was four, my mom and I moved in with Veronica and her brother and mother. Our neighbors called us "The Family of the Ditches" since both of our fathers left. Not that we really minded. Neither of us had gotten to know our dads, and it wasn't like he'd left six babies to one poor woman.

Both of us took in the fragments of favorite memories as we wandered around the lot. The row of bushes that Ronnie and I hid behind when her brother Jonah brought friends over. Every friend brought a new five-minute crush, and whenever they walked by, we'd sing "Message in a Bottle" by The Police. The tree where I hid and played guitar while Veronica took pictures of people's reactions. The garden that chased boys into so I could kiss them. The swing-set where we played shoe-fling and Veronica flung her shoe at Neil Harrison, leading up to them becoming boyfriend and girlfriend.

Now, we would have to say good-bye to all of that. We were moving, the "Family of Ditches", to Forks, Washington. The place no one had heard of unless you lived there. Apparently, there were really good job offerings for Mrs. Wainright and Mom at the hospital. Lucky for Jonah, he had graduated high school just in time to avoid the move. Veronica and I, however, were only juniors. So we had two more years to go.

The house was, sadly, pretty easy to sell. On the last day, we got to meet the family. They were the snooty, French-ish kind of family that turned their nose up at "simpletons". Veronica and I could both tell that they were gonna tear down everything that we loved; the garden, the tree, the bushes, the swing-set… Probably so they could build a pool.

Once everything was packed up, we piled in the car and drove down to Forks. The minute we saw the _Welcome to Forks!_ sign, we knew we were in for some under-the-radar living. The sign was chipping and splitting. Ronnie and I glanced at each other, and then at Mrs. Wainright. She smiled sheepishly. "Darling town, don't you think?" Veronica and I looked at each other again.

Mrs. Wainright turned to Mom. "Are we almost there, Raquel?"

Mom nodded. "We should be there in about fifteen minutes." I groaned and slumped back into my seat. "Oh, hush, Harlow. We're almost there."

Finally, Mom pulled into the driveway. Veronica and I jumped out of the car and dashed up the stairs. Since Mom and Mrs. Wainright had come the day before to have our furniture set up, everything was all put where we want. I flopped down on the couch and Veronica flopped down on me. "Oomph," I gasped. She laid her head down on my shoulder and sighed.

"So tired," she mumbled, "and bored."

"You're crushing me," I groaned. She sighed again and rolled off of me. "Thank you."

"I can't believe we have to go to school tomorrow," Veronica said. I nodded.

"I know, right?"

"And it's a Monday, too."

"Damn, why couldn't we have come on a Thursday?" Ronnie shrugged.

"Why did we have to move at all?" Good point.

**Jasper**

I knew I should of gone hunting with Edward.

"Oh c'mon, Jasper," Alice whined. I rolled my eyes. "It's just school." I gave her a look. She returned the look, only she had a smile on her lips. Alice climbed into the front seat and buckled up. "You know you're coming," she said.

I pursed my lips. "You mean _you _know I'm coming." She smirked and put on a pair of designer sunglasses. "Get in hot-shot."

Once we were in the school parking lot, Alice unbuckled my seat-belt and shoved me out of the car.

Rosalie and Emmett pulled up and got out with us. Rosalie flipped her hair and looped her arm through Emmett's. "Let's go," she said to him. They walked off, and Alice and I followed them into school.

My first class was biology.

When I walked in, everyone was standing up. Everyone's moods were the same as usual. I glanced around and waited for Mrs. Rossi to come in. When she did, she stood in front. "Ok guys," Mrs. Rossi started, "we're rearranging seats today."

Someone raised their hand. "Why?"

"Because," she said. "We have a new student, and I thought it'd be best for a new seat arrangement." Rossi looked around. "Which, she should be here soon…" As if on cue, a girl walked in. She was really pretty for a human; long, dark brown hair, hazel eyes, Cupid's bow lips… and her _smell_. It was awful. My throat tightened and instantly dried. I was almost positive that my eyes were turning black.

"Ah," Rossi said. "And here she is. Class, this is Harlow Caraway." Harlow smiled awkwardly. "Ok, now we're going to seat alphabetically." I didn't realize what that meant until she put me in my seat. There were no other C's in the class… except Harlow.

So I had to sit next to her and restrain myself.

**Harlow**

Veronica and I went to the front office to grab our schedules and maps. We wished each other good luck and went to our classes. My first was Biology.

When I walked in, everyone was standing up. Oh no. "And here she is. This is Harlow Caraway." If the teacher weren't looking, I'd roll my eyes.

She sat us all down in seats, and I sat down next to some guy whose name started with a J. The whole time, he either glared at me or clawed at the desk. Whatever, he looked like some angry psycho. Sure, he was, as Veronica would say, a "hot tamale". But that didn't change the fact that I was ever-so grateful that looks could _not _kill.


	2. Chapter 2

**Two things: if you're reading this chapter and you read the first one, thank you! It means a lot. It really does, right here 3. Another thing, Alice and Jasper are only really good friends in this story. Alice and Edward are actually together. Hope you like the chapter!**

**Chapter 2: Harlow**

Veronica was waiting for me outside the cafeteria. "Hey," she said. "There are some people who I want us to eat lunch with."

"Ok," I replied as she yanked me over to a table. There were four people sitting at the table. Two guys, two girls.

"Hey, Veronica," one of the girls said. Then she looked over at me. "Are you Harlow?" I nodded. "I'm Jessica."

"Hey," I smiled. Veronica and I sat down.

Jessica pointed to the guys. "This Mike and Eric." They nodded at me, and practically drooled Veronica. That was the common reaction she got from most guys. Jessica shook her head at the guys and waved at Angela. "And this is Angela." Angela smiled shyly and tucked a chunk of hair behind her ear.

So Jessica launched into a speech about everything at school. When she finally took a breath, she looked over at a table. "Omigod, do you know who the _Cullens _are?" Veronica and I looked at each other and shrugged. Then I looked over at the table Jessica was leaning towards. There was that guy who sat next to me… and glared the whole time. There were five of them. All were absolutely gorgeous, extremely pale, and had topaz eyes.

"Yeah," I said to Jessica. "The blonde guy; he's in my Biology class, and he kept looking at me like he wanted to _kill_ me."

Angela nodded. "Jasper? Oh, I know! He always looks like he's in pain!"

Veronica's eyebrows furrowed. "What is he emo?" Jessica and Angela shrugged.

"I dunno," Angela said. "I really doubt it. Most emo kids that I know of don't keep their blonde hair." I nodded in agreement.

"Ok," Jessica said excitedly. I could already tell the girl loved to gossip. "So you see that totally gorgeous girl with blonde hair? Well, that's Rosalie. _Total _bitch, if you ask me." Then she cocked her head at another, who had his arm around Rosalie's shoulders. "He's Emmett." Emmett had dark, curly hair, and was a total meat-head. "Then there's Edward. _So gorgeous!_" They sighed. He had messy copper-colored hair. Sure, they were all insanely hot. But, it wasn't like they would look down from their mighty throne at us normal peasants. "Alice, such a freak-o." Alice was like a pixie; teeny, thin, graceful-looking, and spiky black hair. "And that's Jasper." Jessica winked at me. "Looks like you've already hit it off with him." I playfully rolled my eyes and shook my head.

Angela leaned in towards us. "Oh my god, here's the really weird thing. They're all like… _together._"

"You mean like a couple?" Veronica asked. They nodded.

"Yeah. Rosalie and Emmett, Edward and Alice."

"Is that even legal?" Veronica asked.

"Well, I mean, they aren't _actually related_."

"But still," Angela said, "it's _weird._" I looked over at the Cullens… and Jasper was staring right at me.

Once school was over, I got in my car and waited for Veronica. It turned out I had another class with Jasper: World History. My _favorite_ class with my new _favorite _person; fabulous. And this was only an A-day.

_I walked into Mr. Craft's class. He looked up at me and smiled. "Are you Harlow?" I nodded. "Ok. Just take a seat." I nodded again and looked around… and saw Jasper. His eyes narrowed, and mine did, too. Not even thinking about sitting anywhere near him, I took a seat next to Angela. "Hey, Harlow," she said sweetly. I smiled and sat down in the seat next to her. _

Ugh. I hardly knew Jasper, and already I was starting to… strongly dislike him. What I didn't get was why _he _hated _me_! I'd done _nothing _him!

I was looking out the windshield when the Cullens walked by. There was Rosalie, who looked at me and sniffed like I was a piece of trash. Emmett, who wrapped his arm around Rosalie's waist and nuzzled into her neck. And there was Jasper, who was walking next to Alice. I watched Alice and Jasper, until Alice looked over her shoulder at me. She looked into my eyes… and smiled. It was like she was trying to tell me something.

Then Veronica opened the passenger door. "Wassup, sister from another mister?" I rolled my eyes and started the car.

"Nothing."

"How was your day?"

I hesitated for a moment. "Uh, questionable?"

"Yet desirable?"

"You could… say that."

**Jasper**

Alice looked over to a BMW Mini Cooper. She kept looking, then turned back with a pleasant smile on her face. "What?" I asked.

"Oh… nothing." She smiled mischieviously. "So, why don't you like that Harlow girl?"

I sighed. "I don't _not _like her… I just-"

"Glare at her all the time. Yeah, I glare at people I don't know, too. It makes me seem very inviting."

I rolled my eyes. "Ha-ha, no. I just want her to keep her distance."

"Why?" Then she paused. "Oh, well, I don't think she smells… uh, it's so hard to explain this! Uh, I don't think she's _that_ bad."

"You don't have to _sit _right _next _to her."

"Yeah, I do. I have Art with her tomorrow."

"How do you know?"

"Uh, hello? I'm psychic!"

**Harlow**

In Biology, Jasper wasn't there. Oh my god, was he _that _ridiculous? Skipping school? _Really_?

At least I wasn't being glared at the whole time.

I walked into art. Mrs. Flannery looked up at me and smiled. "Sit wherever you want," she said. I nodded and took a seat by the window. On the board it said Free Draw, so I took my new sketch book out and flipped it open. And what did I discover? Blockage, as Veronica and I called it. Definition: having no idea what to do. So while I pressed my head into my palm and concentrated, I noticed that someone had sat down across from me. I looked up… and saw Alice Cullen smiling at me.

Not being able to control my jaw, I stared at her; mouth hanging open. "Hi," she said. I forced my mouth to shut and smiled back. "I'm Alice," she chirped.

"Harlow," I replied.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" I shook my head. "Thanks," she said happily. Alice pulled her sketch book out and flipped through the pages. Immediately she started sketching. I gaped at her "sketch". It was already forming into a beautiful… whatever it was supposed to be.

Suddenly, it felt like I had to catch up with her so I didn't look like one of those people that signed up for a class because they needed one more for their schedule. So, I decided to draw me and Veronica, singing in that tree.

I kept shading and erasing and smudging until Alice tapped my hand. I looked up. "Yeah?"

"Whatcha drawing?" Until Alice had pulled me from my zone, I hadn't really even examined my drawing. Before I scooted it over to her, I glanced at it, and smiled satisfactorily. Her golden eyes swept over it, and she smiled. "You're _good_."

I blushed. "Thanks."

"No, I mean you're _really _good!" She pointed at Veronica. "Who's that?"

"My really good friend Veronica." Alice looked harder, and then smiled.

"Oh, yeah, Veronica. I know her. She's in my French class." I was starting to feel bad about lunch now. Alice was really sweet. "So how long have you guys known each other?"

"Since we were, like, born. And, we live together, so…"

"Oh, cool. Hopefully you don't get tired of each other!" She giggled, and I gave in and laughed with her.

Art was fun with Alice. She was… different, sure. But since when was normal any fun?


End file.
